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Airbus' German Wing Denies Parts Delay

The German wing of European aircraft manufacturer Airbus on Friday denied a press report that it had delayed delivery of parts for the new super jumbo A380, which in turn had delayed the whole project. "This is not true," said Tore Prang, a spokesman for Hamburg-based Deutsche Airbus. He added: "What we have delivered, we delivered on time." Airbus said this week that it would be two to six months late in delivering the eagerly awaited A380 to airlines. Prang said Airbus's management had made that announcement after analyzing the production timetable for the whole project, and that no one factor could be blamed for the delay. The newspaper International Herald Tribune reported on Friday that production problems at one of Airbus's main parts plants in Germany was at the root of the problem, rather than any safety or quality issues. Airbus has taken 144 orders and 10 options from 15 airlines at a catalogue price of $263-286 million (213.8-232.5 million euros) each. The aircraft, the world's biggest airliner, with capacity for 550 to 840 passengers, successfully made its maiden test flight on April 27.